"shortages were found in the quickly improvised Local Defence Volunteers, later renamed the Home Guard, who were forced to train with broom handles and makeshift pikes using lengths of piping and old bayonets until weapons could be supplied. In addition to those produced in Britain, small arms and ammunition were obtained from Commonwealth countries and also purchased from U.S. manufacturers until they were supplied under Lend-Lease beginning in 1941. The weapons obtained from the United States included the Tommy gun, M1911A1 pistol and the M1917 revolver produced by Colt and Smith & Wesson all primarily produced in .45 ACP. The"
"International: Home Guard (United Kingdom) The Home Guard (initially Local Defence Volunteers or LDV) was a defence organisation of the British Army during the Second World War. Operational from 1940 until 1944, the Home Guard was composed of 1.5 million local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service, such as those too young or too old to join the regular armed services, or those in reserved occupations. Their role was to act as a secondary defence force, in case of invasion by the forces of Nazi Germany and their allies. The Home Guard were to try to slow down the advance"
"Home Guard (United Kingdom) The Home Guard (initially Local Defence Volunteers or LDV) was a defence organisation of the British Army during the Second World War. Operational from 1940 until 1944, the Home Guard was composed of 1.5 million local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service, such as those too young or too old to join the regular armed services, or those in reserved occupations. Their role was to act as a secondary defence force, in case of invasion by the forces of Nazi Germany and their allies. The Home Guard were to try to slow down the advance of"
"under General Kirke. The government and senior military officials rapidly compared plans and by 13 May had worked out an improvised plan for a home defence force, to be called the Local Defence Volunteers. The rush to complete a plan and announce it to the public had led to a number of administrative and logistical problems, such as how the volunteers in the new force would be armed, which would cause problems as the force evolved. On the evening of 14 May 1940 the Secretary of State for War, Anthony Eden, gave a radio broadcast announcing the formation of the"
"Civil Defence Service The Civil Defence Service was a civilian volunteer organisation in Great Britain during World War II. Established by the Home Office in 1935 as Air Raid Precautions (ARP), its name was officially changed to the Civil Defence Service (CD) in 1941. The Civil Defence Service included the ARP Wardens Service as well as firemen (initially the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) and latterly the National Fire Service (NFS)), fire watchers (later the Fire Guard), rescue, first aid post and stretcher parties. Over 1.9 million people served within the CD and nearly 2,400 lost their lives to enemy action."
"can cause some confusion. Translations include Territorial Defense Force, Home Army, Home Defense, Local Defense, Local Lithuanian Detachment, Lithuanian Home Formation, etc. Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force The Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force or LTDF (, LVR, ) was a short-lived, Lithuanian, volunteer armed force created and disbanded in 1944 during the German occupation of Lithuania. LTDF was subordinate to the authorities of Nazi Germany and Its goal was to fight the approaching Red Army, provide security and conduct anti-partisan operations within the territory, claimed by Lithuanians (see also Nazi German occupation of Lithuania, Generalbezirk Litauen of Reichskommissariat Ostland). LTDF had some"
"and grouped administratively with the BMA. Local territorials were embodied on 3 September 1939, with the declaration of War on Germany by Britain and France. Whereas volunteers had continued to perform their civilian jobs, during the Great War, they were embodied to serve full-time for the duration of the Second World War. The strengths of the units were quickly increased as Bermuda, again, assumed a position of great importance as the point of formation of trans-Atlantic convoys. As in the Great War, the BVRC soon detached a contingent for service overseas, with the Lincolnshire Regiment. A small number of soldiers"
"Volunteer Force units that first saw overseas service during the Second Boer War. The various county battalions of Rifle Volunteers first became affiliated to a newly designated local regular Line Infantry Regiment with the Childers Reforms of 1881. The local Regular Line Infantry Regiments at the time were: the Royal Scots (Lothian), the Royal Scots Fusiliers (Ayrshire), the Highland Light Infantry (Glasgow), the King's Own Scottish Borderers (Borders, Dumfries and Galloway) and the Cameronians (Lanarkshire). The current unit is however the direct descendent of the infantry battalions that made up the 52nd Lowland Division, of which Lowland Rifle Volunteer units,"
"Volunteer Defence Corps (Australia) The Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) was an Australian part-time volunteer military force of World War II modelled on the British Home Guard. The VDC was established in July 1940 by the Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) and was initially composed of ex-servicemen who had served in World War I. The government took over control of the VDC in May 1941, and gave the organisation the role of training for guerrilla warfare, collecting local intelligence and providing static defence of each unit's home area. General Harry Chauvel, who had retired in 1930, was recalled to"
"training in May 1944 and the VDC was officially disbanded on 24 August 1945. Volunteer Defence Corps (Australia) The Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) was an Australian part-time volunteer military force of World War II modelled on the British Home Guard. The VDC was established in July 1940 by the Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) and was initially composed of ex-servicemen who had served in World War I. The government took over control of the VDC in May 1941, and gave the organisation the role of training for guerrilla warfare, collecting local intelligence and providing static defence of each"
"organisation, the Ulster Defence Union, and is also the motto of the paramilitary Ulster Defence Force. Irish Volunteers (18th century) The Volunteers (also known as the Irish Volunteers) were local militias raised by local initiative in Ireland in 1778. Their original purpose was to guard against invasion and to preserve law and order at a time when British soldiers were withdrawn from Ireland to fight abroad during the American Revolutionary War and the government failed to organise its own militia. Taking advantage of Britain's preoccupation with its rebelling American colonies, the Volunteers were able to pressure Westminster into conceding legislative"
"Infantry Volunteers (Mob. Det., CLI) having troops mobilized on a permanent basis. In 1939 with the Second World War CDF was mobilized and expanded to fortify Ceylon to meet a possible threat posed by the Japanese. CDF came direct command of the South East Asia Command (SEAC) and formed part of the British 11th Army Group. It was sometimes referred to as the British Army in Ceylon during this time. South East Asia Command under Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten had its headquarters located at Kandy, Ceylon Troops from the CDF, mainly the Ceylon Light Infantry and the Ceylon Garrison Artillery"
"25 November 1913, partly in response to the formation of the UVF, Irish nationalists formed the Irish Volunteers – a militia whose role was to safeguard Home Rule. In March 1914, the British Army's Commander-in-Chief in Ireland was ordered to move troops into Ulster to protect arms depots from the UVF. However, 57 of the 70 officers at the Army's headquarters in Ireland chose to resign rather than enforce Home Rule or take on the UVF. The following month, the UVF smuggled 20,000 German rifles with 3,000,000 rounds of ammunition into the port of Larne. This became known as the"
"Many of the duties of the service were later revived as part of the Civil Defence Corps in 1949. Civil Defence Service The Civil Defence Service was a civilian volunteer organisation in Great Britain during World War II. Established by the Home Office in 1935 as Air Raid Precautions (ARP), its name was officially changed to the Civil Defence Service (CD) in 1941. The Civil Defence Service included the ARP Wardens Service as well as firemen (initially the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) and latterly the National Fire Service (NFS)), fire watchers (later the Fire Guard), rescue, first aid post and"
"2nd Kent Artillery Volunteers The 2nd Kent Artillery Volunteers, later 4th London Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, popularly known as the Lewisham Gunners, was a volunteer unit of the British Army from 1860 until 1967. Initially raised in suburban West Kent, its recruiting area was later incorporated within the County of London. It provided two active service units in each of the World Wars, operating as far afield as Sicily, Burma and Madagascar, and later provided an airborne unit in the Territorial Army of the 1950s. The 9th Kent Artillery Volunteer Corps (9th KAVC) was one of many Volunteer units raised"
"a war whilst voluntary militias provided for home defence, and civilian local defence groups began to spring up spontaneously as soon as war was declared. The volunteer movement gained publicity from discourse in the press advocating civilian participation in home defence, with notable proponents being Arthur Conan Doyle and H. G. Wells. The first elements of central organisation were established by the formation of the London Volunteer Defence Force. Discussions about the nature and role of the movement ranged from simply drilling volunteers in preparation for their enlistment into the regular or home armies, through augmenting the home army's defence"
"their own units, dubbed 'the parashots' by the press, the War Office continued to lay down the administrative and logistical foundations for the organisation. In telegrams to the Lord Lieutenants of each county, it was explained that LDV units would operate in pre-defined military areas already used by the regular army, with a General Staff Officer coordinating with civilian regional commissioners to divide these areas into smaller zones; in London this was organised on the basis of police districts. On 17 May the LDV achieved official legal status when the Privy Council issued the ""Defence (Local Defence Volunteers) Order in"
"Local Defence Volunteers and called for volunteers to join the force. In the radio announcement, Eden called on men between the ages of 17 and 65 in Britain, who were not in military service but wished to defend their country against an invasion, to enroll in the LDV at their local police station. The announcement was met with a great deal of enthusiasm on the part of the population, with 250,000 volunteers attempting to sign up in the first seven days. By July this number increased to 1.5 million. As volunteers and social groups such as cricket clubs began forming"
"returned to Tuzla. On 20 December 1941 Hadžiefendić met with local mayors, representatives of the government and other prominent people to discuss forming a local volunteer force. This was formally established two days later and initially consisted of a company deployed in the villages east of Tuzla and around Živinice, which were then directly threatened by Chetnik attacks. Less than four months later in May 1942 the Volunteers Department was renamed the Hadžiefendić Legion (""Hadžiefendićeva legija"") and was formally recognised as a special Home Guard volunteer regiment. The regiment consisted of a headquarters in Tuzla and six battalions deployed in"
"in the North African Campaign in late 1942 at El Alamein and Tunisia, Salerno in Italy, both in late 1943, and the invasion of Normandy and throughout North-west Europe from June 1944 until May 1945. From late 1942, when 44th Division was broken up, the brigade served with the 7th Armoured Division, nicknamed """"The Desert Rats"""". The Volunteer Force of part-time soldiers was created following an invasion scare in 1859, and its constituent units were progressively aligned with the Regular British Army during the later 19th Century. The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 introduced a Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units,"
"Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (Second, or 2nd, AIF) was the name given to the volunteer personnel of the Australian Army in World War II. Under the ""Defence Act"" (1903), neither the part-time Militia nor the full-time Permanent Military Force (PMF) could serve outside Australia or its territories unless they volunteered to do so. The Second AIF fought against Nazi Germany, Italy, Vichy France and Japan. After the war, Australia's wartime military structures were demobilised and the 2nd AIF was disbanded, although a small cadre of its personnel became part of the Interim Army that was"
"Battle of France and during the Blitz in 1940 and in North West Europe in 1944–45. It continued in the TA until 1961. An invasion scare in 1859 led to the creation of the Volunteer Force and huge enthusiasm for joining local Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs). The Tower Hamlets area of East London was no exception. The first RVC in the area was short-lived, but the 2nd Tower Hamlets RVC formed in April 1860 at Dalston soon had seven companies: By the end of the year the HQ had moved to South Hackney. One of the original officers was Captain"
"second contingent had volunteered to join the Airborne Division, training as parachutists. After the War, the BVRC men, who had travelled to Europe as units, returned individually, as each waited for his 'number' to come up. The BVRC and the BMA sent contingents to the Victory Parade in London. In 1946, however, both units were demobilised and reduced to skeleton command structures. The other two Territorials were both disbanded, but the BVRC and BMA were brought back up to strength in 1953. At that time, the BVRC was retitled the ""Bermuda Rifles"". The loss of the word 'volunteer' was probably"
"SS divisions composed mostly of forced conscripts). Apart from frontline units, volunteers also played an important role in the large ""Schutzmannschaft"" units in the German-occupied territories in Eastern Europe. After Operation Barbarossa recruitment of local forces began almost immediately mostly by initiative of Himmler. These forces were not members of the regular armed forces and were not intended for frontline duty, but were instead used for rear echelon activities including maintaining the peace, fighting partisans, acting as police and organizing supplies for the front lines. In the later years of the war, these units numbered almost 200,000. By the end"
"British Volunteer Corps The Volunteer Corps was a British voluntary part-time organization for the purpose of home defence in the event of invasion, during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. At the start of the War of the First Coalition, the Secretary of State for War, Henry Dundas, began to receive ""a great number of Letters"", from people living in coastal areas, requesting arms and equipment so that they could defend their localities against any French incursions. The government firmly rejected proposals from Kent and Chichester to form ""military associations"" but similar bodies were formed in Brighton, Rye, Lindfield and"
"Irish Volunteers (18th century) The Volunteers (also known as the Irish Volunteers) were local militias raised by local initiative in Ireland in 1778. Their original purpose was to guard against invasion and to preserve law and order at a time when British soldiers were withdrawn from Ireland to fight abroad during the American Revolutionary War and the government failed to organise its own militia. Taking advantage of Britain's preoccupation with its rebelling American colonies, the Volunteers were able to pressure Westminster into conceding legislative independence to the Dublin parliament. Members of the Belfast 1st Volunteer Company laid the foundations for"
"After the war, home defence forces were demobilised with scant recognition given for their services. The Territorial Force was reconstituted as the Territorial Army and the Royal Defence Corps reappeared as the National Defence Corps, but the National Reserve and the Volunteer Force were not revived. At the beginning of the 20th century, the British Army was a small, professional organisation designed to garrison the empire and maintain order at home. It was augmented in its home duties by three part-time volunteer institutions, the militia, the Volunteer Force and the yeomanry. Battalions of the militia and Volunteer Force had been"
"part-time soldiers who might be called out for local defence in time of invasion or crisis. From 1859 they became a permanent part of the army's auxiliary forces, and after integration into the Territorial Force the county's volunteers served in both world wars of the 20th century. There are records of volunteers being raised in Northamptonshire in 1660 during the crisis that led to the Restoration of Charles II. Mildmay Fane, 2nd Earl of Westmorland, raised a company of two troops, commanded by Charles, Lord Spencer, and Sir Roger Norwich, 2nd Baronet. The first time volunteers were organised on a"
"and internal security. Recruitment of personnel for the volunteer units would include physical and written exams. Before the plan could be implemented the war ended and the concept died without further action. At the conclusion of World War II a defeated Japanese military contingent waited to be disarmed and repatriated; French nationals sought to resume their pre-war rule with the support of Allied military units. The Khmer Issarak (nationalist insurgents with Thai backing), declared opposition to a French return to power, proclaimed a government-in-exile, and established a base in Battambang Province. On the eastern frontier Vietnamese communist forces (Việt Minh)"
"2nd (Seaham) Durham Artillery Volunteer Corps The 2nd (Seaham) Durham Artillery Volunteer Corps was a part-time unit of Britain's Royal Artillery raised in County Durham by the Vane-Tempest family during an invasion crisis in 1860. It became a permanent part of the Volunteer Force and later the Territorial Force, and fought as field artillery on the Western Front in World War I. Before World War II it became an anti-aircraft unit that served in the Battle of Britain, the Blitz and in the Far East where it converted to medium artillery in the Burma Campaign. Postwar, it continued to serve"
"Peter Fleming, then a reserve officer in the Grenadier Guards, was recruited by the War Office research section investigating the potential of irregular warfare (MIR). His initial task was to develop ideas to assist the Chinese guerrillas fighting the Japanese. He served in the Norwegian campaign with the prototype commando units – Independent Companies – but in May 1940 he was tasked with research into the potential use of the new Local Defence Volunteers (later the Home Guard) as guerrilla troops. His ideas were first incorporated into General Thorne's XII Corps Observation Unit, forerunner of the GHQ Auxiliary Units. Fleming"
"was later split up and the Loyals reassigned to the Northern Counties Brigade based in Preston. In 1902 this was also split, the Loyals staying with the new North East Lancashire Brigade in Preston. Finally, in 1906 the brigade was entitled the North Lancashire Brigade and two battalions of the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) were brigaded with the Loyals. During the Second Boer War the battalion formed a service company of volunteers to serve alongside the Regulars, earning the Battle honour South Africa 1900–1902. When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms"
"All Second AIF personnel still on full-time duty were transferred to the Interim Army on 1 July 1947; this force was used to form the foundation of the Australian Regular Army in 1948. Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (Second, or 2nd, AIF) was the name given to the volunteer personnel of the Australian Army in World War II. Under the ""Defence Act"" (1903), neither the part-time Militia nor the full-time Permanent Military Force (PMF) could serve outside Australia or its territories unless they volunteered to do so. The Second AIF fought against Nazi Germany, Italy, Vichy"